More info on the mysterious Dark Angels on the way!
This article was originally published on the Warhammer-community site.
The Dark Angels come to the Psychic Awakening party with a whole host of new skills with which to stop Magnus the Red and his Ritual of the Damned.
The Dark Angels in Ritual of the Damned are led by Master Lazarus, the Commander of the 5th Company. He has experience of fighting against the Thousand Sons, having faced them in the Fenris System and on Stygius. He was critically wounded in the latter fight and only crossing the Rubicon Primaris saved his life.
This marked a unique moment in the Dark Angels’ history, as Lazarus became the first-ever Primaris member of the Inner Circle. It seems that the Unforgiven’s suspicions of Primaris Space Marines are starting to wane.*
As for Lazarus, he seeks his revenge on Magnus the Red’s Legion and he has some unique wargear with which to deliver it. His sword, Enmity’s Edge, is especially deadly against psykers, which will come in handy against the Thousand Sons.
Meanwhile, his Spiritshield Helm contains a shard of one of Caliban’s Stone Guardians and projects a forcefield, protecting both Lazarus and the warriors around him.
The rest of the Chapter has also been brought in line with the other recently updated Space Marines and now get the Combat Doctrines special rule. They also get some new Chapter-specific goodies.
Relentless Hunt increases the range of your shooting weapons. This meshes brilliantly with Bolter Discipline and also means that enemy units trying to avoid fiery death from Overwatching flamers by charging from 9 inches away are going to get toasty.
The Chaplains and Interrogator-Chaplains of the Dark Angels now know the same Litanies of Battle as their brethren from other Chapters.
They also have their own special litany, Stoic Prosecution, which adds even more flexibility to your shooting. Want to move your Devastator squad and still fire at full efficiency? This is the litany for you.
While they are generally a codex-compliant Chapter, the first two companies of Dark Angels (better known as the Deathwing and the Ravenwing) are unique. To represent the storied heroes from these companies, if your Warlord is from one of them, they can choose from a new table of Warlord traits.
Use the Outrider trait to give your Ravenwing a positional advantage over the enemy.
The armouries of the Rock have been opened and some of the oldest relics of Caliban are now available to heroes of the Deathwing and Ravenwing. We’ve already seen how good the Dark Angels are at shooting – give your Deathwing Captain the Key of Archrabael and watch him slice through enemies in combat too!
Even better than a Deathwing OR Ravenwing force is one that includes elements of both, and a new Stratagem allows you to take advantage of such a united army. Use the speed of your Ravenwing bikers to get to the ideal spot on the battlefield, then call in the Deathwing Terminators and crush your enemies.
Whether you prefer an army made up of the Deathwing, Ravenwing, the other eight Dark Angels companies or a combination of everything, the new rules in Ritual of the Damned will improve your chances – but will it be enough to stop Magnus the Red?
Psychic Awakening: Ritual of the Damned is available to pre-order from Saturday. In the meantime, grab some Ravenwing Bikers as reinforcements for your Dark Angels so that you’re ready to hunt down the Thousand Sons.
* Although these ARE the Dark Angels, so they’ll always be a bit suspicious.
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